Method and apparatus for processing fabrics in rope-like form

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for processing a fabric in a vat, which vat is at least partially filled with a processing liquid. The fabric is in rope-like form and has a leading and a trailing end. Means is provided for forming vertically pleated adjacent piles of the fabric at the back of the vat wherein the fabric at the top of each pile is in the same vertical plane as the fabric at the bottom of the same pile. Means is provided for winding the fabric into helical convolutions, each of which contains one such pile, wherein the fabric unwinds at the trailing end and rewinds at the leading end as successive convolutions advance in a direction toward the trailing end of the fabric and for intermittently moving the convolutions in a direction perpendicular to the vertically pleated piles of fabric. The vat has a doubly insulated frame to reduce radiation loss therefrom so that the temperature in the vat above the surface of the processing liquid is approximately equal to the temperature in the vat below the surface of the processing liquid whereby chilling of the fabric is avoided after the fabric has been pulled through and lifted above the surface of the processing liquid.

United States Patent 1191 Shmuel 1 Sept. 24, 1974 [75] Inventor: Dan BenShmuel, Johnsville, NY.

[73] Assignee: Woodside Construction Corp.,

Johnsville, NY.

22 Filed: Mar. 21, 1972 211 Appl. No.: 236,662

[52] US. Cl 8/151.1, 8/152, 68/62,

68/176, 68/177 [51] Int. Cl. B05c 3/134 [58] Field of Search 8/151.1,152; 68/176, 177,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,243,978 4/1966 Gowin68/177 3,457,740 7/1969 Korsch.. 68/205 R X 3,479,846 11/1969 Walsom68/62 3,545,236 12/1970 Ziegler et a1 68/176 3,659,438 5/1972 Chiba eta1. 68/177 3,686,905 8/1972 Stanway 68/177 X FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 671,970 5/1952 Great Britain 68/177 649,451 1/1951 GreatBritain 68/205 R Primary Examinerl-Iarvey C. Hornsby AssistantExaminer-Philip R. Coe

Attorney, Agent, or FirmKirschstein, Kirschstein, Ottinger & Frank [57]ABSTRACT An apparatus and method for processing a fabric in a vat, whichvat is at least partially filled with a processing liquid. The fabric isin rope-like form and has a leading and a trailing end. Means isprovided for forming vertically pleated adjacent piles of the fabric atthe back of the vat wherein the fabric at the top of each pile is, inthe same vertical plane as the fabric at the bottom of the same pile.Means is provided for winding the fabric into helical convolutions, eachof which contains one such pile, wherein the fabric unwinds at thetrailing end and rewinds at the leading end as suc cessive convolutionsadvance in a direction toward the trailing end of the fabric and forintermittently moving the convolutions in a direction perpendicular tothe vertically pleated piles of fabric. The vat has a doubly insulatedframe to reduce radiation loss therefrom so that the temperature in thevat above the surface of the processing liquid is approximately equal tothe temperature in the vat below the surface of the processing liquidwhereby chilling of the fabric is avoided after the fabric has beenpulled through and lifted above the surface of the processing liquid.

12 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures PATENTEI] SEP 24 19M SNEE! 1 PAIENIE8EF2419Z4 Maw a PATENIEDSEPZMQN 3.837; 801

SHEET B (If B I METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING FABRICS IN ROPE-LIKEFORM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Thisinvention relates to an apparatus and method for treating fabrics andmore particularly for dyeing fabrics which are in rope-like form.

2. Description of the Prior Art Previous fabric dyeing machines, such asthe apparatus described in US. Pat. No. 3,308,639, show ropelike fabricfed from a helical guide to an elliptical winch roller in such a mannerthat the fabric forms continuous helical convolutions. After eachconvolution of the fabric leaves the winch roller, it forms a pleatwhich falls to the back of the dye vat. The pleating is caused by theelliptical shape of the winch roller. However, since the continuousmovement of the helical guide causes the fabric on each convolution toleave the winch roller at a point which varies along the length of theroller, the pleats form a leaning pile (stack). Adjacent piles overlap,like shingles. Fabric is continuously pulled from the bottoms of thepiles to retraverse the winch roller. The overlapping, in combinationwith the bottom pulling, buoyancy of the fabric, and movement of theprocessing liquid causes the piles to tumble and become disoriented,thereby tangling, knotting and twisting the fabric. As a result, time islost reordering the fabric and the fabric is unevenly dyed. Furthermore,the elliptical shape of the winch roller pulls the fabric unevenly, i.e.at a varying speed, from the helical guide so as to create unevenstresses in the rope-like material, and an unevenness of dying. Stillfurther, the uneven loads caused by the elliptically shaped winch rollerunevenly load the drive motors thereby requiring the use of larger andmore expensive drive motors to prevent frequent breakdowns.

Still further, prior art dyeing apparatus, especially open vat typeapparatus, as described in the above referred to patent, result inunwanted temperature gradients existing within the vats and also aboveand below the liquid levels. These temperature gradients cause chillingof the fabric and produce uneven dyeing.

A further problem resulting in the uneven dyeing of material can becaused by uneven concentrations and flow of the dye material within theliquid bath, which uneven concentrations especially results when dyematerial is poured into an open vat.

Another source of uneven dyeing results from having creases formed inthe material as it is pulled along the surface of the drive or winchrollers. Still further, the penetration of dye into the fabric, and thetime it takes to complete the dyeing cycle, can be favorably improved byoperating the apparatus at a higher temperature than is practicable whenusing open vat type apparatus such as described in the above referred toprior art patent.

If a dye cycle begins using a dye color which is lighter than the dyecolor used to previously treat other fabric, the fabric may tend to havedark stains formed therein after contacting the drive rollers, if thedriver rollers are not adequately cleaned beforehand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 1. Purposes of the Invention It is an object ofthis invention to provide an improved apparatus and method forprocessing fabric in rope-like form.

.It is a further ojbect of this invention to prevent tangling of pleatedpiles of fabric as the fabric is pulled through a processing liquid.

It is anoher object of this invention to reduce stressing of the fabricas it is pulled over drive rollers.

It is a further object of this invention to reduce creasing of thefabric as it is pulled over the drive rollers.

It is an additional object of this invention to prevent chilling of thefabric as it passes through and above the surface of the processingliquid.

Still another object of this invention is to reduce the radiation lossfrom the processing vat.

Still a further object of this invention is to make the constitution ofthe processing liquid more uniform throughout the dye vat.

Still another additional object of this invention is to reduce thetension in the fabric as it is pulled over the rear drive roller so thatthe fabric enters the processing liquid in a relaxed state.

Other ojbects of the invention will in part be obvious and in part willbe pointed out hereinafter.

2. Brief Description of the Invention According to a broad aspect of theinvention there is provided an apparatus and method for processing afabric in a vat, said vat being partially filled with a processingliquid, said fabric being in rope like form and having a leading and atrailing end, said apparatus comprising means for forming verticallypleated piles of said fabric at the back of said vat, said fabric at thetop of each pile being in the same vertical plane as said fabric at thebottom of each said pile, and means for winding said fabric into helicalconvolutions and for intermittently moving said fabric in a directionperpendicular to the vertically pleated piles of fabric, whereby saidfabric unwinds at the trailing end and rewinds at the leading end assuccessive convolutions advance in a direction towards the trailing endof said fabric.

A feature of the invention provides that said pleat forming means iscomprised of a horizontally extending front drive roller, said rollersand bar being mutually parallel, means for driving said front and reardrive rollers so as to pull said fabric through said vertical guidemeans, over said front drive roller, then over said rear drive rollerand past said pleating bar towards the back of said vat, and means forrotating said pleating bar so that said bar moves towards and beyond ahorizontal position past the back edge of said rear drive roller, so asto push said material towards the back of said vat, and then said barmoves in front of the back edge of said rear drive roller so as topermit said fabric to swing under its own weight toward the front ofsaid vat whereby the pleats are formed in a vertical pile.

Another feature of the invention provides that said winding and movingmeans further includes a closed loop carrier, the leading end of saidrope-like fabric being attached to said carrier, a mutilated spiralincluding parallel straight reaches perpendicular to the length of thespiral, which reaches constitute said vertical guide'means and arelocated at the front of the spiral when the spiral is stationary, saidspiral further including inclined reaches connecting the ends of saidperpendicular reaches, said inclined reaches being at the rear of thespiral when the spiral is stationary, means for intermittently rotatingsaid carrier 360 to wind the leading end of said fabric past the rollersand bar, and means for substantially concurrently intermittentlyrotating said spiral 360 to advance the convolutions lengthwise of therollers and bar, and then idle the spiral in a stationary position withthe perpendicular reaches at the front of the spiral to serve asvertical guides for the fabric.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a vat forprocessing a fabric in a vat, said vat being partially filled with aprocessing liquid and having fabric processing means included therein,said vat forming an enclosed pressurized chamber, end sides of said vatbeing rounded so as to increase the volume of said chamber and to allowfor use of a thinner gauge material for the end sides of said vat.

According to still another aspect of the invention, there is provided anapparatus and method for process ing a fabric in a vat, said vat beingat least partially filled with a processing liquid, said fabric being inropelike form and having a leading and a trailing end, said apparatuscomprising a horizontally extending substantially circular front driveroller, a horizontally extending substantially circular rear driveroller, and means for driving said front and rear drive rollers at thesame tangential velocity so as to eliminate imposition of changingstrain on said fabric as said fabric is driven by said front and reardrive rollers.

According to an alternate aspect of the invention, the tangentialvelocity of the front drive roller is made greater than that of the reardrive roller so as to overfeed the fabric as it approaches the reardrive roller. Power jets are placed between the front and rear driverollers and adjacent the front drive roller so as to propel the fabrictowards the rear drive roller. A shoot or guide channel concentrates thestream of liquid onto the fabric in a turbulant manner so as to causestrands of the fabric to telescope inward before the fabric reaches therear drive roller, thereby allowing the fabric to enter the processingliquid in a relaxed manner, so that the relaxed fabric is moreeffectively treated.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided anapparatus and method for processing a tubular fabric in a vat, said vatbeing partially filled with a processing liquid, said fabric being inrope-like form and having a leading and a trailing end, said apparatuscomprising means for pulling said fabric through a 360 loop, the loopextending above and below the surface of said processing liquid, saidpulling means including front and rear drive rollers, means for blowingair into said tubular fabric so as to inflate the same and therebyreduce the creasing of said fabric as said fabric is pulled by saidfront and rear drive rollers. Another aspect of the invention comprisesthe provision of means for streaming said processing liquid onto saidfabric before and after air is blown into said fabric.

According to a still further aspect of the invention,

A there is provided an apparatus and method for processing fabric in avat, said vat being partially filled with a processing liquid, saidfabric being in rope-like form and having a leading and a trailing end,said apparatus comprising means for pulling said fabric in a 360 loop,the loop being formed above and below the surface of said processingliquid, said pulling means including parallel horizontally extendingfront and rear drive rollers in contact with said fabric, and means forstreaming said processing liquid onto said fabric in the directionhaving a substantial component parallel to the direction of movement ofsaid fabric before said fabric passes over said front and rear driverollers so as to reduce the strain imposed on said fabric as said fabricis driven by said front and rear drive rollers and to increase thepenetration of said processing liquid into said fabric so as to improvethe overall processing of said fabric.

According to an additional aspect of the invention there is provided avat for processing fabric, said vat being partially filled with aprocessing liquid, said fabric being in rope-like form, said vatincluding means for processing said fabric therein, said vat havingdoubly insulated frame portions to reduce radiation loss from said vatso that the temperature in said vat above the surface of said processingliquid is approximately equal to the temperature in said vat below thesurface of said processing liquid thereby avoiding chilling of said fabric after the fabric has been pulled through said processing liquid andis above the surface of said processing liquid.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a vatand method for processing fabric, said vat being partially filled with aprocessing liquid, said fabric being in rope-like form, said vatincluding means for processing said fabric, means for introducing saidprocessing liquid from a tank into the bottom of said vat, and means forcirculating said processing liquid between the rear and the front ofsaid vat so as to provide for uniform constitutions of said processingliquid and more even processing of said fabric.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings, in whichare shown various possible embodiments of my invention:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vat for processing a rope of fabric inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1 taken substantially along the line2-2, said view showing the drive rollers, mutilated spiral, carrierchain, pleater bar and one convolution of the fabric vertically piled atthe rear of the vat;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-section of a door seal shown in FIG. 2before the door is closed;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 after the door is closed;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the processing vat, showing the means fordriving the drive rollers, the carrier chain, the mutilated spiral andthe pleater bar, and also the means for circulating the processingliquid;

FIG. 6 is an internal perspective view of the processing apparatusshowing the fabric as loading is started;

FIG. 7 is an internal perspective view of the fully loaded processingapparatus;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of one convolution of the fabric loaded ontothe apparatus and showing the location of means for streaming processingliquid onto the fabric in a fashion such as to assist movement of thefabric in the apparatus;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the insulating frameof the vat;

FIG. 10 is a front view of the mutilated spiral;

FIG. 11 is a front view of a processing vat providing a high pressurechamber;

FIG. 12 is an end view of the vat shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a cross-section of the vat shown in FIG. 11 the same beingtaken substantially along the line 1313 and showing the same handlingapparatus as is shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 14 is an enlarged partial schematic view of the apparatus shown inFIG. 8 showing the stream of liquid placed between the front and reardrive rollers and adjacent the front drive roller, and guide shoots forconcentrating the liquid onto the fabric.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A processing vat l0 embodyingthe present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. A supply tank 12 isshown filled with a processing liquid 14, which liquid can be a dye,bleach or cleaning agent. Processing liquid 14 is drawn out of thebottom of tank 12 by a pump 16, which pump in turn is driven by a motor18. Liquid 14 then passes through a pipe 20 and into a rear manifold 22(shown in FIG. 2) that extends from end to end of vat 10. Processingliquid 14 flows through holes 24 in the front of rear manifold 22 sothat the bottom of vat fills up to a liquid level or surface 26. Theprocessing liquid is passed through a wire mesh screen or baffle 27,through an overflow opening 28 into a front mainfold 30, out of vat 10through a pipe 32 and a pump 34, which forces the liquid back throughpipe into rear manifold 22. As showin FIG. 1, pump 34 is driven by amotor 36. In this manner, processing liquid 14 in vat 10 is continuouslycirculated between the respective rear and front manifolds 22 and 30,while fresh processing liquid from tank 12 can be added thereto througha pipe 37 which leads into pipe 20. Thus, a uniform concentration ofprocessing liquid is maintained within the bottom of vat 10 so as toprovide for a more even processing and treating of fabric therein.

Processing liquid 14 can be drained from vat 10 via a pipe 38 leadingfrom a bottom wall 40 as shown in FIG. 1. Of course, pipe 38 has a valve(not shown) connected therein so as to prevent processing liquid 14 fromcontinuously draining from the bottom of the vat. As shown in FIG. 5, anoverflow pipe 41 is connected to an upper front manifold so as to insurethat the surface of processing liquid 14 never exceeds a specifiedlevel. Radient steam coils 42 (shown in FIG. 2) are placed below surface26 of processing liquid 14, and between wire mesh screen 27 and frontmanifold 30 so as to heat processing liquid 14 to a suitabletemperature.

In order to avoid chilling of the fabric after it leaves surface 26 ofliquid 14, which chilling would deleteriously affect even processing ofthe fabric, it is necessary to try to maintain the temperature withinthe vat and above surface 26 of processing liquid 14 at approximatelythe same temperature as the processing liquid. In order to do this, itis necessary to keep the heat loss from vat 10 to a minimum. The heatloss can be reduced by insuring that the top, sides and doors of vat 10are doubly insulated. FIG. 9 shows an enlarged sectional view of the top43 of vat 10 (the same structure is employed for the ends and back ofthe vat and for the rear door), wherein a glass wool layer 44 is placedbeneath an outer plate 46 and is held by strips 48. An air space 50 of,for example, approximately one-half inch depth, is formed between alining 52 and the glass wool layer. Strips 48 are held away from lining52 via a plurality of spacers 54.

Heat loss from within vat 10 can also be reduced by providing animproved seal assembly 56, shown it FIG. 2 for a front door 58. As shownin an enlarged view in FIG. 3, the door seal assembly 56 consists of aframe which holds glass door 58 and a flexible tubular sealing member62, e.g. a rubber hose, which member runs along the side and bottomedges of door 58. When the door seal assembly 56 is disengaged, as shownin FIG. 3, from a U-shaped track 64 in which the bottom and sides offrame 60 are slidably receivable, tubular member 62 is not inflated.However, as shown in FIG. 4, when door seal assembly 56 engages track 64when door 58 is slid to closed position, tubular member 62 is internallypressurized by opening a valve 66 so that a pressurized gas from asource 68 can be supplied thereto, whereby to force the door against thevat. In this manner, a more effective door seal is provided so as toreduce the heat loss from within vat 10. Of course, when door 58 isagain opened, tubular member 62 can be depressurized. The pressurizingand depressurizing of tubular member 62 can be accomplished eithermanually or automatically.

Door 58 is shown closed in FIG. 1 and a counterweight 70, which isattached thereto, is shown in a raised position. Door 58 can be slid toa higher vertical position 72, shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5, ascounterweight 70 is lowered as shown in dotted lines, while a pivotingarm 74 which is attached to the top of door 58, swings to a higherposition 76, also shown indotted lines.

As shown in FIG. 2, there is provided a horizontally extending rear orprimary drive roller 78, a horizontally extending front or secondarydrive roller 80, a horizontally extending mutilated spiral 82, ahorizontallly extending pleater bar 84 and a closed loop carrier 86.Carrier 86 is in a verticle plane adjacent one end of and perpendicularto the axis of rotation of rear drive roller 78, front drive roller 80,and pleater bar 84, wherein the drive rollers and bar are mutuallyparallel thereto. Rear drive roller 78 and front drive roller have acylindrical shape and are repsectively formed by a parallel series oftransverse rods attached to circular discs.

Spiral 82, as shown in front view in FIG. 10, is comprised of a bar 88attached to a wire section 90. Wire section 90, which forms a series ofconvolutions, is comprised of vertical guide means having verticallyadjacent parallel straight reaches 92 perpendicular to the length of thespiral which are always located at the front of the spiral when thespiral is stationary so as to provide for an improved guide for thefabric which passes therethrough while the apparatus is being loaded oroperated. The ends of adjacent reaches 92 are connected by inclinedreaches 93, which inclined reaches are always at the rear of the spiralwhen the spiral is stationary. Such vertical guide means also assist inthe formation of vertically pleated piles to be explained later.

Pleater bar 84 rotates upon its axis and when it is in the horizontalposition, one portion 94 extends past a rear edge 96 of rear driveroller 78 and when pleater bar 84 is in the vertical position, it isaligned below rear drive roller 78 and does not extend beyond rear edge96 of rear drive roller 78.

Also shown in FIG. 2 are a front safety limit bar 98 and a rear safetylimit bar 100. Safety limit bars 98 and 100 serve to activate a powercut-off switch so as to turn the apparatus off in the event that fabric102 somehow becomes tangled and falls against either of the safety limitbars.

Rear drive roller 78 is driven by a rear drive shaft 104, (shown inFIG. 1) which shaft is in turn driven by a motor 106 via a gear linkagearrangement 108. Front drive roller 80 is driven by a front drive shaft110, which in turn is coupled to rear drive shaft 104 by a suitable gearlinkage arrangement 112, which linkage arrangement provides that thesurface speed or tangential velocity of rear drive roller 78 is the sameas that of front drive roller 80 so that fabric 102, which is pulledover both front and rear drive rollers, is not unnecessarily stressed aswould be the case if the surface speed of the drive rollers weredifferent. Furthermore, since drive rollers 78 and 80 are cylindricallyshaped, rather than elliptically shaped as in the prior art, theyprovide a more even loading for motor 106. As shown in FIG. 5, pleaterbar 84 is driven by a pleater shaft 114, which shaft in turn is drivenby rear drive shaft 104 via a gear linkage arrangement 116. Carrier 86is driven by a carrier drive shaft 118 which in turn is also driven byrear drive shaft 104 via a gear linkage arrangement 120. Carrier 86rotates in a closed path determined by sprockets 122.

While front and rear drive rollers continuously move at a constant speedduring loading and operation of the apparatus, carrier 86 and spiral 82move only intermittently so that in the course of time necessary for oneconvolution of fabric 102 to complete one full revolution (cycle)through the apparatus, carrier 86 and spiral 82 both make one completerevolution within a fraction of that time and remain stationary throughthe remainder of the same fabric cycle. Such intermittent operation ofspiral 82 and carrier 86 is provided by respective clutches 1 24 and126, which serves to disengage respective spiral and carrier driveshafts. Standard manual or automatic means can be used to properlyengage and disengage clutches 124 and 126. The spiral and carrier driveshafts are respectively coupled to braking mechanisms 128 and 129 so asto prevent any prolonged movement in the respective spiral and carrierafter their drive shafts have been disengaged.

The loading of the apparatus is illustrated in FIG. 6 wherein carrier 86has a hook 130 attached thereto at a point slightly below spiral 82. Aleading end 132 of fabric 102 is attached to hook 130 via a leadermaterial 134. Fabric 102, which in this example has a tubular form ofthe type that is generally woven by cylindrical winding machines, is ledfrom a storage bin 136 through a loadng poteye 138 over the frontportion of front drive roller 80 to leader material 134. Loading poteye138 is a stationary member which is supported by the frame of vat 10.Carrier 86 makes one quick and complete revolution pulling fabric 102out of storage bin 136 and into engagement with respective front andrear drive rollers 80 and 78. Alternatively, when so desired, carrier 86can make a little less than one complete revolution and then inch upuntil the revolution is complete. Front and rear drive rollers 80 and 78move fabric 102 towards the back of vat 10, while pleater bar 84, (shownin FIG. 2) which is revolving at an angular velocity in excess of theangular velocity of the revolving fabric, pushes fabric 102 furthertowards the back of vat 10 as it (pleater bar) moves towards thehorizontal position and lets the fabric move under its own weighttowards the front of the vat as it (pleater bar) moves towards thevertical position so as to form a vertically pleated pile in the rear ofvat 10. Carrier 86 then makes a quick revolution and stops so as to feedfabric from the bottom of vertically pleated pile 140 through a firstvertical guide means provided by adjacent pairs of vertical reaches 92at that end of the spiral which is adjacent carrier chain 86, over frontdrive roller 80, rear drive roller 78 and towards the back of vat 10,while forming a vertically pleated pile at the back of the vat. Carrier86, substantially concurrently with the movement of spiral 82, makesanother quick revolution and stops so as to advance the first formedconvolution of fabric to the adjacent vertical guide means 142 of spiral82, whereafter two convolutions with two vertically pleated piles areformed. The process is continued until successive convolutions of fabricare formed and the machine is completely loaded as shown in FIG. 7,whereupon a trailing end 144 of fabric 102 hangs freely.

When the loaded apparatus is in operation, carrier 86 makes one completerevolution, and trailing end 144 of fabric 102 unwinds. Leading end 132of fabric 102 rewinds through first vertical guide means 139 as fabric102 is pulled through processing liquid 14, and vertically pleated piles140 are formed towards the back of vat 10. Substantially concurrentlywith the movement of carrier 86, spiral 82 revolves to advance thematerial in the axial direction perpendicular to the vertical plane ofthe vertically formed pleated piles towards trailing end 144 of fabric102, so that, in effect, fabric 102 is being rewound as it is beingunwound on the apparatus so as to remain stationary thereon during theprocessing fabric 102. It should be noted that the pleated piles are sovertically formed because the pleating operation is mainly carried outwhile spiral 82 is stationary, and fabric 102 is thus being pulledthrough the vertical guide means of spiral 82 so as to avoid anymovement of the fabric in the direction perpendicular to the verticalplain of the vertically formed pleated piles.

In order to avoid any unnecessary stressing of the fabric as it firstcontacts drive rollers 80 and 78 during the loading operation, poteye138 is provided with holes 146 along the inner circumferential portionthereof, while processing liquid is pumped from the bottom of vat 10through these holes so as to sufficiently wet fabric 102 before fabric102 initially contacts drive rollers 80 and 78.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 8, circular spray bars 146 and 148 can belocated respectively before front drive roller 80 and rear drive roller78 so as to again supply a stream of processing liquid 14 from thebottom of vat 10, which liquid has a substantial component that hitsfabric 102 parallel to the direction of movement of the fabric. Thefibers of fabric 102 are thus spread apart, thereby resulting in anincrease in the penetration of the processing liquid within the fabricand an improvement in the overall processing of fabric 102.Alternatively, circular spray bars 150 and 152 could also be added forthe same reason described above or any combination of circular spraybars 146, 148 and 150 and 152 could be used.

Still further, in order to avoid creasing of fabric 102 as it passesover front and rear drive rollers 80 and 78, respectively, air is blowninto the fabric from an air injection bar 154, (shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 6and 7) so as to form a blown-up portion 156 in fabric 102, which tendsto remove some of the creases which have been formed within the fabric.Injection bar 154 has suitable holes therein for allowing the air toescape into the fabric. The air, or as a matter of fact, any suitablegas, can be pumped from outside of vat 10 but should pass throughprocessing liquid 14 so that the temperature of the pumped air isapproximately the same as the temperature within vat 10, therebyavoiding chilling of fabric 102 during this operation.

In order to improve the effect of the air blowing operation, a stream ofprocessing liquid 14 can be applied to fabric 102 from a circular spraybar 158 located between air injection bar 154 and front drive roller 80,and additionally processing liquid 14 can be applied to fabric 102 fromcirculator spray bar 160 located between air injection bar 154 and reardrive roller 78. An additional circulating spray bar 162 is so locatedas to apply a stream of processing liquid 14 onto fabric 102 when fabric102 is in contact with rear drive roller 78 so as to improve theadherence of fabric 102 to rear drive roller 78, thus resulting in alessoning of the straining of fabric 102 during the processing cycle.Circular spray bar 162 and an additional circular spray bar 164 can beprovided so that a stream of liquid from the bottom of vat 10 is appliedover the respective rear and front drive rollers in order to clean therollers before another processing operation on another fabric begins.

It should also be noted that instead of loading the apparatus in such amanner that fabric 102 forms successive convolutions, fabric 102 can beso loaded as to have only one convolution by eliminating spiral 82 andreplacing it with a single vertical guide means previously described.

It should be further noted that fabric 102 could be similarly processedwithin a vat 166 (shown in FIGS. 11, 12 and 13), which vat has a highpressure sealed chamber 167 (shown in FIG. 13) and rounded externalsides 168 (shown in FIG. 11). Rounded external sides 168 increase theinner volume of sealed chamber 167 and also allow the use of a thinnergauge material for the frame of vat 166. As shown in FIG. 12, vat 166can have a quick locking pressure door 170. The pressure within sealedchamber 167 of vat 166 can range typically from 5 to I PSIG. As shown inFIG. 13, the actual fabric processing apparatus is the same as that usedin vat 10.

In an alternate embodiment, which is illustrated in FIG. 14, thetangential velocity of front drive roller 80 is greater than thetangential velocity of rear drive roller 78 so that the front driveroller tends to over-feed the fabric as it moves towards the rear driveroller. A set of power jets 172 is placed between front and rear driverollers and adjacent the front drive roller so as to propel the fabrictoward the rear drive roller. A set of shoots or guide channels 174concentrate the stream of processing liquid from the power jets onto thefabric. Turbulator blades 176 extend from shoots 174 in such a manner asto cause the streaming processing liquid to form a turbulance so as tocause the strands of fabric to telescope inward before the fabricreaches the rear drive roller. Due to the telescoping of the fabriccaused by the turbulant processing liquid, the fabric does not creepdown between the drive rollers, but instead moves over the rear driveroller and enters the vat of processing liquid in a relaxed manner. Threlaxed fabric is thus free from physical deformations, such as creases,since it is not under tension as it moves over the rear drive roller,and is thus more effectively dyed. The fabric is then, of course, pulledover the front drive roller under tension and is stretched back to itsnontelescoped form. The above described embodiment can, of course, beapplied to apparatus for treating only one convolution of fabric andalso to apparatus for treating a plurality of convolutions of fabric.

It thus is seen that there is provided an apparatus for processingfabrics in rope-like form which achieves the several objects of theinvention and is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention,and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth,it is to be understood that all matter herein described, or shown in theaccompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Having now described the invention, there is claimed as new and isdesired to be secured by Letters Patent:

1. In an apparatus for processing a fabric in a vat having a front andrear and which vat is partially filled with a processing liquid havingan upper surface, the fabric being in rope-like form having a leadingand a trailing end, and which apparatus includes means to wind thefabric into helical convolutions of which each includes a pleatedsection in the liquid, each pleated section having a leading portion anda trailing portion, first means to revolve the leading end of the fabricin a closed path around the axis of a helix formed by the helicalconvolutions, seconds means at the front of the vat to draw the fabricfrom the leading portion of each pleated convolution section out of theliquid, third means at the rear of the vat receiving the fabric of eachconvolution from the second means and depositing the same at thetrailing portion of each previous pleated convolution section adjacentthe upper surface of the processing liquid, said third means advancingthe fabric at a rate per convolution faster than the first means so thatthe fabric is formed into pleated sections one for each convolution atthe rear of the vat in the liquid, and fourth means to advance theconvolutions toward the trailing end of the fabric: that improvementcomprising a. means actuating the first means intermittently to revolvethe leading end of the fabric once through said closed path morespeedily than the second and third means revolve the convolutions oncearound said axis of the helix, said first means being actuated once forach single revolution of the helical convolutions around the axis, and

b. means for intermittently actuating the fourth means once morespeedily than the second and third means revolve each convolution oncearound the longitudinal axis of the helix, said fourth means beingactuated once for each single revolution of the several convolutions ofthe helix around said axis,

c. whereby the fabric as deposited at the trailing portion of eachpleated convolution section remains substantially constant axially whilethe fourth means is deactuated so that the deposited fabric of eachconvolution remains in a common plane perpendicular to the axis of thehelix while the fourth means is deactuated.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein means is included topleat the fabric as it is deposited adjacent the surface of the liquid.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein the second and thirdmeans are horizontally extending substantially circular drive rollers,and wherein the pleating means is a horizontally extending pleating barbelow and in back of the rear drive roller, and wherein means isincluded for rotating the pleating bar so that the bar moves toward andbeyond and then back from a horizontal position in back of the back edgeof the rear drive roller so as to push the fabric toward the back of thevat and when the bar moves forwardly in front of the back edge of saidrear drive roller to permit the fabric to swing under its own weighttoward the front of the vat to form the pleated sections.

4. A combination as set forth in claim 3 wherein drive means is providedto rotate the front and rear drive rollers at the same tangentialvelocity so as to reduce the strain on the fabric as it is advanced bysaid rollers.

5. A combination as set forth in claim 3 further comprising means forapplying a stream of said processing liquid onto said fabric in thedirection of movement of said fabric after said fabric passes over saidfront drive roller and before said fabric passes over said rear driveroller so as to reduce the straining of said fabric as said fabricpasses over said front and rear drive rollers and to increase thepenetration of the processing liquid into said fabric so as to improvethe overall processing of said fabric.

6. A combination as set forth in claim 5 wherein the tangential velocityof the front drive roller is greater than the tangential velocity of therear drive roller.

7. A combination as set forth in claim 6 further comprising a set ofguide plates positioned between said front and rear drive rollers and onopposite sides of said fabric so as to concentrate the stream ofprocessing liquid onto said fabric, said guide plates includingturbulator blades extending towards said fabric whereby said stream ofprocessing liquid forms a turbulence and causes strands of said fabricto telescope inward so that said fabric passes over said rear driveroller and into the processing liquid in a relaxed fashion, so as toprovide more effective treating of said fabric.

8. In a method for processing a fabric in a vat having a front and rearand which vat is partially filled with a processing liquid having anupper surface, the fabric being in rope-like form and having a leadingand a trailing end, and in which method the fabric is wound into helicalconvolutions of which each includes a pleated section in the liquid,each pleated section having a leading portion and a trailing portion,and further in which method the leading end of the fabric is revolved ina closed path around the axis of the helix formed by the helicalconvolutions, the fabric from the leading portion of each previouspleated convolution section being drawn out of the processing liquid atthe front of the vat and being deposited at the trailing portion of eachprevious pleated convolution section adjacent the upper surface of theprocessing liquid, said fabric being drawn out of the processing liquidat the front of the vat and being deposited back to the surface of theprocessing liquid at a rate per convolution faster than the fabric iswound into helical convolutions so that the fabric is formed into saidpleated sections one for each convolution at the rear of the vat in theliquid and still further in which the convolutions are advanced towardthe trailing end of the fabric, that improvement comprismg:

a. revolving the leading end of the fabric once through said closed pathmore speedily than the convolutions are rotated around said axis of thehelix and then stopping such revolving of the leading end until theseveral helical convolutions have completed a single revolution aroundsaid axis, and

b. advancing the convolutions toward the trailing end intermittentlymore speedily than the several convolutions are turned a singlerevolution around the helix and then stopping the advance of saidconvolutions towardthe trailing end until the convolutions havecompleted a single revolution around the said axis,

c. so that the fabric as desposited at the leading portion of eachpleated convolution section remains substantially constant axially whileadvancement of the convolutions toward the trailing end stops so thatthe deposited fabric of each convolution remains in a common planeperpendicular to the axis of the helix while advancement of theconvolutions toward the trailing end is stopped.

9. In a method as set forth in claim 8 the further improvementcomprising moving the convolutions of the fabric from the front to therear of the vat by engaging the same with front and rear circular driverollers and pleating the fabric as it descends from the rear roller tothe pleated section of each convolution by passing said fabric over apleating bar which moves toward and beyond and then back from ahorizontal position in back of the rear drive roller so as to push thefabric toward the back of the vat and when the bar moves forwardly infront of the back edge of the rear drive roller to permit the fabric toswing under its own weight toward the front of the vat, such operationbeing practiced repeatedly to provide pleats.

10. A method according to claim 9 wherein said front and rear driverollers are rotated at the same tangential velocity so as to reduce thestrain on said fabric as said fabric is pulled over said front and reardrive rollers,

11. A method according to claim 9 further comprising the step ofapplying a stream of said processing liquid onto said fabric in thedirection of movement of said fabric after said fabric passes over saidfront drive roller and before said fabric passes over said rear driveroller so as to reduce the straining of said fabric as said fabricpasses over said front and rear drive rollers and to increase thepenetration of the processing liquid into said fabric whereby to improvethe overall processing of said fabric.

12. A method according to claim I 1 further comprising the step oftelescoping strands of said fabric inward before the fabric passes oversaid rear drive roller so that said fabric passes over said rear driveroller and into the processing liquid in a relaxed state, whereby toincrease the penetration of processing liquid into said fabric whilereducing creasing of said fabric as it passes over said rear driveroller.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein means is included topleat the fabric as it is deposited adjacent the surface of the liquid.3. A combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein the second and thirdmeans are horizontally extending substantially circular drive rollers,and wherein the pleating means is a horizontally extending pleating barbelow and in back of the rear drive roller, and wherein means isincluded for rotating the pleating bar so that the bar moves toward andbeyond and then back from a horizontal position in back of the back edgeof the rear drive roller so as to push the fabric toward the back of thevat and when the bar moves forwardly in front of the back edge of saidrear drive roller to permit the fabric to swing under its own weighttoward the front of the vat to form the pleated sections.
 4. Acombination as set forth in claim 3 wherein drive means is provided torotate the front and rear drive rollers at the same tangential velocityso as to reduce the strain on the fabric as it is advanced by saidrollers.
 5. A combination as set forth in claim 3 further comprisingmeans for applying a stream of said processing liquid onto said fabricin the direction of movement of said fabric after said fabric passesover said front drive roller and before said fabric passes over saidrear drive roller so as to reduce the straining of said fabric as saidfabric passes over said front and rear drive rollers and to increase thepenetration of the processing liquid into said fabric so as to improvethe overall processing of said fabric.
 6. A combination as set forth inclaim 5 wherein the tangential velocity of the front drive roller isgreater than the tangential velocity of the rear drive roller.
 7. Acombination as set forth in claim 6 further comprising a set of guideplates positioned between said front and rear drive rollers and onopposite sides of said fabric so as to concentrate the stream ofprocessing liquid onto said fabric, said guide plates includingturbulator blades extending towards said fabric whereby said stream ofprocessing liquid forms a turbulence and causes strands of said fabricto telescope inward so that said fabric passes over said rear driveroller and into the processing liquid in a relaxed fashion, so as toprovide more effective treating of said fabric.
 8. In a method forprocessing a fabric in a vat having a front and rear and which vat ispartially filled with a processing liquid having an upper surface, thefabric being in rope-like form and having a leading and a trailing end,and in which method the fabric is wound into helical convolutions ofwhich each includes a pleated section in the liquid, each pleatedsection having a leading portion and a trailing portion, and further inwhich method the leading end of the fabric is revolved in a closed patharound the axis of the helix formed by the helical convolutions, thefabric from the leading portion of each previous pleated convolutionsection being drawn out of the processing liquid at the front of the vatand being deposited at the trailing portion of each previous pleatedconvolution section adjacent the upper surface of the processing liquid,said fabric being drawn out of the processing liquid at the front of thevat and being deposited back to the surface of the processing liquid ata rate per convolution faster than the fabric is wound into helicalconvolutions so that the fabric is formed into said pleated sections onefor each convolution at the rear of the vat in the liquid and stillfurther in which the convolutions are advanced toward the trailing endof the fabric, that improvement comprising: a. revolving the leading endof the fabric oNce through said closed path more speedily than theconvolutions are rotated around said axis of the helix and then stoppingsuch revolving of the leading end until the several helical convolutionshave completed a single revolution around said axis, and b. advancingthe convolutions toward the trailing end intermittently more speedilythan the several convolutions are turned a single revolution around thehelix and then stopping the advance of said convolutions towardthetrailing end until the convolutions have completed a single revolutionaround the said axis, c. so that the fabric as desposited at the leadingportion of each pleated convolution section remains substantiallyconstant axially while advancement of the convolutions toward thetrailing end stops so that the deposited fabric of each convolutionremains in a common plane perpendicular to the axis of the helix whileadvancement of the convolutions toward the trailing end is stopped. 9.In a method as set forth in claim 8 the further improvement comprisingmoving the convolutions of the fabric from the front to the rear of thevat by engaging the same with front and rear circular drive rollers andpleating the fabric as it descends from the rear roller to the pleatedsection of each convolution by passing said fabric over a pleating barwhich moves toward and beyond and then back from a horizontal positionin back of the rear drive roller so as to push the fabric toward theback of the vat and when the bar moves forwardly in front of the backedge of the rear drive roller to permit the fabric to swing under itsown weight toward the front of the vat, such operation being practicedrepeatedly to provide pleats.
 10. A method according to claim 9 whereinsaid front and rear drive rollers are rotated at the same tangentialvelocity so as to reduce the strain on said fabric as said fabric ispulled over said front and rear drive rollers.
 11. A method according toclaim 9 further comprising the step of applying a stream of saidprocessing liquid onto said fabric in the direction of movement of saidfabric after said fabric passes over said front drive roller and beforesaid fabric passes over said rear drive roller so as to reduce thestraining of said fabric as said fabric passes over said front and reardrive rollers and to increase the penetration of the processing liquidinto said fabric whereby to improve the overall processing of saidfabric.
 12. A method according to claim 11 further comprising the stepof telescoping strands of said fabric inward before the fabric passesover said rear drive roller so that said fabric passes over said reardrive roller and into the processing liquid in a relaxed state, wherebyto increase the penetration of processing liquid into said fabric whilereducing creasing of said fabric as it passes over said rear driveroller.